Akbar Khan
Amir Akbar Khan (1816–1845; ), born as Mohammad Akbar Khan ( ) and famously known as Wazir Akbar Khan, was an Afghan prince, general, and finally emir for about three years until his death. He was militarily active in the First Anglo-Afghan War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842. He is prominent for his leadership of the national party in Kabul from 1841 to 1842, and his pursuit of the retreating British-led Indian army from Kabul to Gandamak near Jalalabad in 1842. His fame began with the 1837 Battle of Jamrud, while attempting to re-gain Afghanistan's second capital, Peshawar from the Sikh army of Punjab. Early life Akbar was born as Mohammad Akbar Khan in 1816 to Amir Dost Mohammad Khan of Afghanistan and Mirmon Khadija Popalzai. Amir Dost Mohammad Khan had 2 wives, 8 sons (including Amir Akbar Khan) and 2 daughters. Adult life In 1836 Dost Mohammad's Muslim forces, under the command of his son Akbar Khan, fought the Sikhs at the Battle of Jamrud, fifteen kilometers west of present-day Peshawar. Dost Mohammad Khan did not follow up this triumph by retaking Peshawar, however, but instead contacted Lord Auckland, the new British governor general in India, for help in dealing with the Sikhs. With this letter, Dost Mohammad formally set the stage for British intervention in Afghanistan. At the heart of the Great Game lay the willingness of Britain and Russia to subdue, subvert, or subjugate the small independent states that lay between them. Akbar Khan led a revolt in Kabul against the British Indian mission of William McNaughten, Alexander Burnes and their garrison of 4,500 men. In November 1841, he besieged Major-General William Elphinstone's force in Kabul. Elphinstone accepted a safe-conduct for his British force and about 12,000 Indian camp followers to Peshawar; they were ambushed and annihilated in January 1842. It was claimed in at least one set of British war memoirs that, during the retreat, Akbar Khan could be heard alternately commanding his men, in Persian to desist from, and in Pashto to continue, firing. Historians think it unlikely that Akbar Khan wished for the total annihilation of the British-led Indian force . An astute man politically, he would have been aware that allowing the British-led Indians to extricate themselves from Afghanistan would give him the time to consolidate his control of the diverse hill tribes; whereas a massacre of 16,500 people, of which only about a quarter were a fighting force, would not be tolerated back in London and would result in another, larger army sent to exact retribution . This was in fact what happened the following year. In May 1842, Akbar Khan captured Bala Hissar in Kabul and became the new emir of Afghanistan. He ruled until his death in 1845. Some believe that Akbar Khan was poisoned by his father, Dost Mohammed Khan, who feared his ambitions. In fiction The historical figure Akbar Khan plays a major role in George MacDonald Fraser's novel ''Flashman. See also *Wazir Akbar Khān References External links Category:Pashtun people Category:Afghan people Category:People of the First Anglo-Afghan War Category:1813 births Category:1845 deaths